STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. – Led by freshman Jemima Gregson’s ninth place finish, Georgia State finished ninth at the 23rd annual John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate at Eagle’s Landing Country Club on Tuesday (March 29th, 2016). The Panthers shot a final round 306 to finish the 54-hole event at 59-over.
Gregson made three birdies en route to a final round 74, finishing the event at 8-over par. It marked her second top 10 of the season and fifth top 25 in nine events.
Elon shot a second-straight 297 to earn a 12-stroke win, finishing at 23-over par. Western Kentucky finished second at 35-over, with Western Michigan coming in third at 40-over. Florida Gulf Coast was one stroke behind in fourth at 41-over, with Western Carolina and Eastern Kentucky tying for fifth at 46-over.
Elon’s Kelsey Badmaev shot the low round of the tournament, a 4-under 68, to earn a come-from-behind victory and finish the event at 5-under. CSU Fullerton’s Martina Edberg, ranked No. 91 in the country, finished second at 3-under, followed by Eastern Kentucky’s Sofie Levin in third at 2-over. Illinois State’s Kiley Walsh and UAB’s Sydney Snodgrass tied for fourth at 4-over.
“We continued to make progress today,” head coach Cathy Mant said. “We had too many big scores that derailed a chance of shooting a really good score, but I think the team sees that if we do certain things, we will have a chance at the conference championship. I’m really proud of the way Jemima is playing. She has stepped up to the challenge as a freshman and is only getting better.”
Junior Solene LeCoz shot a final round 79 to finish tied for 42nd at 19-over, while sophomore Yasemin Sari saved her best round for last, shooting a 3-over 75 on Tuesday to finish tied for 46th at 20-over. Junior Jooeun Bae shot a final round 83 and finished 22-over and tied for 53rd, while senior Julie Lied rounded out the line-up shooting 78 to finish tied for 58th at 24-over.
Paula Zabarte, playing as an individual, shot a final round 79 to finish tied for 25th at 14-over.
Georgia State will return to action April 17-19 for the Sun Belt Conference Championship in Miramar Beach, Fla., at The Raven Golf Club. The winner of the tournament will receive the league’s automatic bid to NCAA Regional play.